Hide the Decline

Environment &
“Green Energy”

Red States and High Tides
I’m not sure who was the first to point out that income inequality is highest where liberals govern, i.e., New York City, San Francisco, LA, etc. It’s also true of housing prices, not coincidentally. This is only the beginning of a pattern recognition linked to liberal governance and elite opinion formation.

War & Terror

The Deal Struck with Iran Was Not the Deal Announced by President
NPR aired a fascinating segment Saturday morning. “Iranian and American officials are busy selling the deal back home, but it does seem as if they’re talking about two different agreements.” “The American description of [termination of sanctions], as portrayed in the State Department’s fact sheet on the deal, asserts that no U.N. sanctions can be lifted until Iran completes a hefty list of tasks, including scaling back its enrichment of nuclear fuel, converting a heavy water reactor and an underground enrichment facility, so that no nuclear fuel can be produced and answering long-standing questions about its past nuclear activity.” Yet Iran “stated that all sanctions relief U.N., EU and U.S. – would be immediate. It was unequivocal. It stated that Iran under the deal was free to pursue industrial scale enrichment to fuel its own reactors – unequivocal. It stated that Iran was unhindered in its ability to conduct centrifuge R&D.”

RESET: Russia Threatens NATO With “Nuclear Force”
The Obama administration’s decision to seek a “reset” of relations with Russia was, in the words of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, a “brilliant stroke” that “worked.” And she’s obviously right. This explains why Russian is threatening to use “nuclear force” if NATO takes steps to prevent Russian aggression in the Baltic states

Some wars should be prevented, and some wars should be preempted
Most of the great wars of the past would have been far less bloody had they begun sooner. That emphatically is true of the First World War: if Germany had launched a preemptive assault on France during the First Morocco Crisis of 1905, before Britain had signed the Entente Cordiale with France and while Russia was busy with an internal rebellion, the result would have been a repeat of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 rather than the ghastly war of attrition that all but ruined Western civilization.

Sally Kohn Doesn’t Understand How Laws Work
The debate over religious freedom has officially broken the collective liberal mind. Rather than just admitting that many same-sex marriage supporters wish to use the power of government to force people of faith to violate their consciences, at least one skeptic of religious freedom has invented a new legal theory on the matter.

Facts matter: Left sticks to “narratives,” evidence be damned
The verdict’s in on Rolling Stone. According to no less an authority than the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, the magazine’s story last year on a University of Virginia gang rape was a “journalistic failure [that] encompassed reporting, editing, editorial supervision and fact-checking.”

How Europeans Invented “White Privilege”
“The team found a patchwork of evolution in different places, and three separate genes that produce light skin, telling a complex story for how European’s skin evolved to be much lighter during the past 8000 years.”

Answer for Christian businesses: Use a “Terms of Service Agreement”
Today’s generation is very well-acquainted with what is known as a “Terms of Service Agreement.” In fact, people across all generations that use social media and apps, or purchase products online, know they must always “agree” to the terms of service before any services will be even be considered. They simply check the “Agree to Terms” box and proceed to do business with the company.

UMix won’t screen film in wake of complaints
The Center for Campus Involvement announced Tuesday afternoon they would cancel a planned showing of “American Sniper” at UMix following a student petition over the depiction of certain communities in the film.

Maya Angelou’s new stamp features quote that wasn’t hers
The United States Postal Service is set to honor Maya Angelou today in a dedication ceremony for a new postage stamp depicting the legendary author, poet and singer. But there’s one problem: The quotation that accompanies Angelou’s picture on the stamp was apparently not originally written by her.

Lois Capps to Retire in 2016; 24th District in Play
Democratic U.S. Rep. Lois Capps, 77, announced on Wednesday that she will be retiring her congressional post, leaving the competitive 24th congressional district seat open for the first time in almost two decades. Capps, who is from Santa Barbara, was first elected as the representative for the 24th district in 1998.

A Political Dynasty Grows in California
One of the signs of an unhealthy democracy is the constant emergence of family dynasties in politics. You need look no further than the fact that Hillary Clinton and Jeb Bush are currently top contenders for president in 2016. A Bush or a Clinton has run for president in 1980, 1988, 1992 (when both families squared off against each other, as they may again next year), 1996, 2000, 2004, and 2008.

Maya Angelou’s quote on USPS stamps is fake but accurate
Living in New York around 2005, I once saw a flyer advertising Maya Angelou’s appearance before NYU students that had exactly the same “bird” quote. The flyer was posted at the entrance to one of the left-wing churches around NYU that lends its space to events held by communists and other progressives, including a party to celebrate the release of Lynn Stewart from prison, which I attended undercover with a video camera.

How Authoritarian Activists Are Censoring Twitter
In just under a year, Twitter will celebrate its 10th birthday. The microblogging service is currently the 8th-most visited website on the internet, with over 280 million active users. By offering a free, open platform that allows instantaneous communication to huge audiences, Twitter is arguably the most efficient means of spreading information in the world.

Hillary Clinton to go the Max Headroom campaign strategy route. No, really.
This will set the tone for the Clinton candidacy: “A person familiar with the Clinton team’s plans confirmed that she will make the initial announcement [that she’s running for President] in a video on Sunday before heading to Iowa.” Basically, the Clinton campaign has decided to do the bare minimum necessary to signal that she’s running for office, while at the same time giving the press the same mushroom treatment that Barack Obama pioneered. No questions taken, no opportunities to see how the woman reacts under pressure*, and this may be the first time in history that a major political candidate deliberately attempts to avoid media coverage of her campaign rollout: Ed Morrissey argues here that Hillary wants the media to stay focused on Marco Rubio’s campaign announcement Monday, and not raise inconvenient questions about hers.

Reagan, Thatcher busts defaced at Chapman University
Students at Chapman University in Orange, California awoke Wednesday morning to find statues of various political figures defaced and accused of crimes including “racism,” “homophobia,” and “neo-liberalist ideology.”

Economy & Taxes

Upstate New York is becoming Detroit with grass.
Binghamton, New York — once a powerhouse of industry — is now approaching Detroit in many economic measures, according to the U.S. Census. In Binghamton, more than 31 percent of city residents are at or below the federal poverty level compared to 38 percent in Detroit. Average household income in Binghamton at $30,179 in 2012 barely outpaces Detroit’s $26,955. By some metrics, Binghamton is behind Detroit. Some 45 percent of Binghamton residents own their dwellings while more than 52 percent of Detroit residents are homeowners. Both “Rust Belt” cities have lost more than 2 percent of their populations.

Here’s The Nazi Cake Jewish Bakeries Will Be Forced To Sell.
And now, inadvertently, the video-sharing website has provided a glimpse into our national future once critics of laws supporting religious freedom succeed in preventing small business owners from refusing certain work as a matter of conscience.

Liberals May Regret Their New Rules
That photo is me about ten years ago, standing in the ruins of a land where people rejected the rule of law in favor of the rule of force. I think a lot about my year-long deployment to Kosovo these days. I think a lot about people today who, for short term political points, cavalierly disregard the rules, laws and norms that made America what it is. I think a lot about how liberals, especially those who boo God, should pray to Him that those rules, laws and norms are restored.

From Watergate to the Pizza Wars
It Didn’t Start with Watergate, Victor Lasky wrote in 1977, in an effort to place the Nixon administration’s scandals into context alongside the same or worse crimes committed by the FDR, JFK, and LBJ administrations. Today, as Kevin D. Williamson writes at NRO, the Obama administration and its operatives with bylines are doing their best to make these “Scandals in the rearview mirror appear smaller”

The Hugo Awards: How to Fight Back in the Culture War
This is the era in which we are all being drafted in the Culture War. It doesn’t matter if you’re secular or religious, political or apolitical, frat boys or geeks, hipsters or bros. Nobody gets to be neutral or sit on the sidelines, because we’ll all be expected to make our obeisance to the latest politically correct opinion handed down to us by a Twitter mob.

Addendum to Yesterday’s Letter
Yesterday the following media outlets ran articles about the Sad Puppies campaign, in which they either directly said or insinuated that it was run and populated by racist straight white males with the goal of keeping scifi white and male. (not true)

In the End, It’s All About Rape Culture—or the Lack Thereof
I’ve taken a couple of days before responding to Columbia Journalism School’s report on the Rolling Stone/Sabrina Rubin Erdely/Jackie fiasco. There’s always pressure to provide near-instantaneous reactions to news events, but the report is long and substantive. I wanted to take some time with it.

Social-Justice Warriors Aren’t So Tough When Even “Sad Puppies” Can Beat Them
As I’ve said before – in the religious liberty context – when one takes their eyes off the “head for the hills” Republicans and focuses on the vast conservative grassroots, the social-justice and identity-politics Left is taking beating after beating. And now that losing streak is extending into a new cultural arena — the arts.

Obama’s Clown-Car Diplomacy
In which our resident scholar on all things Middle-East – and circus related, Andrew Klavan, explains Barack Obama’s policy for that troubled region. Think of it as Smart Diplomacy for Dummies…

Two Good Reasons to Curb Immigration
I spent a good part of the Laura Ingraham show today talking about immigration. I read portions of Jeff Sessions’ op-ed in the Washington Post titled “America needs to curb immigration flows.” Senator Sessions makes several basic points in a clear and persuasive manner

The Return Of Traditional Values
The popular culture of the West is a mess these days. Add up the vulgar lyrics and misogyny of rap music to pathetic movies like 50 Shades of Grey to public obsessions like Bruce Jenner as he breaks out of his male cocoon and metamorphosizes into a female, and we are left with very little to praise. It all seems like a replay of the Roman satirist Petronius’s brilliant first-century AD novel The Satyricon, which chronicled the moral sinkhole into which the Roman Bay of Naples had plunged.

Fundamental Concepts – Me vs We
Lets take a moment to consider political labels. All too often, they are used as simple pejoratives, not the least by me. If we’re talking and I tell you “You’re so progressive!”, chances are it isn’t a complement. Progressive, Conservative, Liberal, Libertarian, Communist, Fascist, Totalitarian, Royalist (haven’t heard that one in a while), Maoist, Theocratic…each one of these terms has a specific meaning, but how do they all fit together in the big picture?

Religious Freedom for All
“Is not the fanaticism of your irreligion more absurd and dangerous than the fanaticism of superstition? Begin by tolerating the faith of your fathers. You talk of nothing but tolerance, and never was a sect more intolerant.” -Voltaire

Reid’s Dark Legacy – Bonus Features
Last week, the RGJ asked me to contribute my thoughts to Harry Reid’s retirement – here they are. It’s amazing, though, how fast the news cycle can be. Since I submitted my piece, two new items came to light which make my critique seem almost quaint.

Social Ignorance Warriors
In most real-world conflicts, the key to victory lies not on a battlefield, or in any one special strategy or tactic, but inside your opponent’s head. This can be argued for a variety of historical conflicts and, in my experience, holds up pretty well in day-to-day experience. The key to beating back superior British forces in the American revolution wasn’t besting them at their own game. It was, in some sense, making mostly-inevitable losses too painful for the enemy to continue inflicting (that and, as in virtually every battle involving a European county up through at least WWI, leveraging Europe’s constant in-fighting against whatever portion you were currently fighting). The United States never needed to win. It just needed to become too difficult to keep.

What makes Cortez Masto qualified to succeed Harry Reid?
Former Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto has become the first Democrat to announce her candidacy for Harry Reid’s Senate seat and Harry has already endorsed her. It was in all the papers, along with everything you need to know about her merits and demerits – well, not quite.